Chick Donohue
{{Short description|American United States Marine, merchant seaman and trade unionist}}
{{Infobox military person
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| name = John Donohue
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| nickname = Chick, Chickie
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1941}}
| birth_place = New York City, United States
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| branch = United States Marine Corps
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| serviceyears = 1958–1964
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| battles = Battle of Khe Sanh
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| alma_mater = Harvard Kennedy School{{cite web |title=Biography: John "Chick" Donohue |url=https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/john-chick-donohue |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=bookreporter.com}}{{cite web |title= ALUMNI-CONNECT-CLASSNOTES-WINTER 2017 |website=Harvard Kennedy School |url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/alumni/get-connected/classnotes/winter-2017 |access-date=11 May 2023}}
| spouse = Theresa O'Neil
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John "Chickie" Donohue (born 1941) is an American former United States Marine, merchant seaman and trade unionist.{{cite news |author1=Mike McAlary |title=Brothers under the skin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/406659432/ |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=New York Daily News |date=20 June 1990 |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{closed access}} He is best known for his 1968 journey through Vietnam where he delivered beer to several United States service members during the height of the Vietnam War.
Early life
A native of Inwood, New York, a neighborhood in upper Manhattan, Donohue served in the Philippines and Japan with the United States Marines from 1958 to 1964.{{cite news |author1=Eric Spitznagel |title=Meet the New Yorker who brought beers to his buddies in the Vietnam War |url=https://nypost.com/2020/11/07/meet-the-man-who-brought-his-buddies-beer-in-the-vietnam-war/ |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=New York Post |date=7 November 2020}}
Vietnam beer run
In November 1967, influenced by anti-war demonstrations and bartender George Lynch, who worked at a local bar called Doc Fiddler's (now called "Tubby Hook Tavern"), Donohue set out on a four-month journey to bring beer to several enlisted men from his neighborhood who were deployed in Vietnam. He landed a job on a merchant ship taking ammunition from New York to Qui Nhon, Vietnam. He arrived on January 19, 1968, and handed out the first beer to Tom Collins, member of the 127th Military Police Company and Donohue's childhood friend. He later travelled to A Shau Valley where he brought beer to two additional Inwood natives, Kevin McLoone and Rick Duggan, and participated briefly in the Battle of Khe Sanh. The following day, he set out for Saigon where he handed out his last beer to Bobby Pappas, a communications specialist in the Army. Having missed the return voyage of his merchant ship, he had to wait for some time before getting a passport and visa through the U.S. Consulate. On the day of his flight out of Saigon, the Tet Offensive started, leaving him stranded in the country. He later latched on as an oiler on a merchant ship destined for New York where he arrived on April 1, 1968.{{cite news |author1=David Kindy |title=A Man, A Mission, And The Greatest Beer Run Ever |url=https://www.historynet.com/greatest-beer-run-ever-vietnam/ |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=HistoryNet |date=10 October 2021}}{{cite news |author1=Corey Kilgannon |title=A Daring Beer Run to Soldiers in Vietnam, Recounted Yet Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/nyregion/a-daring-beer-run-to-soldiers-in-vietnam-recounted-yet-again.html |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=New York Times |date=29 May 2017}}{{cite news |author1=Robin Young |author2=Serena McMahon |title=Memoir tells tale of one man's 'Greatest Beer Run Ever' to friends serving in Vietnam |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/11/11/beer-run-vietnam |access-date=18 September 2022 |work=WBUR |date=11 November 2020 |language=Icelandic}}
Later life
In 1970, Donohue bought the pub Doc Fiddler's and ran it for several years. He later was a trade unionist.{{cite news |author1=Jimmy Breslin |title=He digs going to Frisco |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109774143/he-digs-going-to-frisco/ |access-date=18 September 2022 |work=New York Daily News |date=8 July 1984 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
In media
Donohue is portrayed by Zac Efron in the biographical action comedy film The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022), directed by Peter Farrelly.{{cite news |author1=Adam Starkey |title=Zac Efron delivers booze in a war zone in 'The Greatest Beer Run Ever' trailer |url=https://www.nme.com/news/film/zac-efron-delivers-booze-in-a-war-zone-in-the-greatest-beer-run-ever-trailer-3292364 |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=NME |date=17 August 2022}}{{cite news |author1=Samantha Bergeson |title='The Greatest Beer Run Ever': Zac Efron Enters the Vietnam War with a Six-Pack in True Story |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/greatest-beer-run-ever-zac-152400916.html |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=Yahoo! |date=17 August 2022}}